Make it Better

Fix bugs#

If you’ve picked a technology to specialize in, clone apps using your technology and demonstrate how it is better and also make fixes where it is worse.

This sounds mundane, but plugging holes in the Internet is a reliable strategy for making friends fast and making fast friends. react-router was built by early adopters of React who missed the old router from Ember. They made their reputation by plugging that hole in the React ecosystem.

Put a time limit on it#

Deadlines work wonders. Also, you’re not going for a pixel-perfect clone of something made by teams of people way more experienced than you. You want to have a set amount of time, get as many of the interesting features as possible, and then ship it.

This guarantees that you will be freed up for the next clone and the next. Different projects let you try different libraries and stacks to figure out what you like. Also, you get to practice one of the hardest software engineering skills of all: project estimation. You’ll create many, many opportunities for yourself to see what you can do in a set amount of time because you’re deliberately practicing making things on the clock. None of that time is taken up by product decisions!

Make your own app#

When you’ve done enough and start feeling bored, it’s time to let your freak flag fly. You’ve earned the right to make your app because you’ve made others. You know what things cost, and you have used your tools well enough to get there. You’re still learning in public!

Package up your experience into a talk. Livestream yourself coding. Blog about your game plan, then blog some more as you execute it. Developers who can work in public are in far more demand than developers who can’t.

📝 Note: See the Side Projects chapter for more discussion on starting and managing side projects.